The Morning Glory Cloud

Oi! If you happen to be a wombat hanging around Northern Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria during spring time, you will see these soliton clouds. Also termed "roll clouds", they may be caused by interactions due to an inversion layer, but no one is quite certain. With a total length of up to 1,000 kilometers they appear to be a sight from the realm of cinema.

However, solitons are more common in the real world than I realized. Soliton theory deepens our understanding of tidal bores, cyclones and even tsunamis. Understanding dynamic wave systems has transformed our telecommunication system through optics. The same type of information flow model can be applied to neural networks in the brain. I feel these sort of discoveries are changing the way we look at the world and ourselves. Gone are the days of simple linearity and predictability. Something far more intricate and beautiful is emerging as we ponder the workings of the natural world!